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3/06/2013

It Helps That She Is Addicted...

Autism has not been an easy part of our lives, but it does have some benefits -- especially with my most recent project. It all goes back to when a friend asked me if I would be willing to make up an amigurumi Toothless for her son.

For those of you who are not in the know, "Toothless" is the black Night Fury dragon featured in the Dreamworks movie, How to Train Your Dragon. The character is amazingly well done and draws on the anatomy and personalities of more animals than I can count. And... it's all black. Of course, that means that it has been extremely difficult for me to get the real feel for the dragon's shape (and translate that shape into crochet).

I looked at art from Dreamworks, fan art, images across the internet... I Googled until my eyes were about to fall out of my head. But I could not get the shape of that dragon. So, I bought the movie and settled in with my Little Miss to watch.

The movie was an instant hit. And things that become an instant hit in our house are requested constantly. This is more than your typical kid who likes to watch Nemo until he's memorized all the words. Hit movies in our house are watched daily. At Least.

And so, after watching the movie for probably the 15th time in a week and a half, Toothless began to take shape.

My first draft was done in red (because black yarn is such a bear to keep track of stitches). And with that finished, I took a deep breath, balled up a skein of Red Heart in black, and got started.

Don't get me wrong... I was happy with my first draft -- but just because I don't need to watch the movie anymore doesn't mean we're going to stop. So, as we watched the movie again last night (for the second time on that particular day), I started noticing that I wasn't all that happy with my first draft after all.

The neck was too long... for one. Remove a couple rounds there... add to the tail that was just a touch too short.

And then... the frill around the neck? I was missing one of those little flaps (well, one on each side -- so two to be precise). Rip that out... re-do...

But the one that really got me? The front legs were WAY too short! That's actually the part I'm working on right now.

Tonight, we'll probably watch the movie again (because in our house, that's how we roll) -- and I'll probably decide to re-work something else. But this design? I think it's going to be worth it.

And for those of you who are wondering, there most likely will be an "Amigurumi Dragon #2" pattern coming out (inspired by our pal Toothless, of course). If you want to keep tabs on the progress, check out my Facebook page!

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What is amigurumi?

Amigurumi(編み包み) is the Japanese art of knitting or crocheting small stuffed animals and anthropomorphic creatures. The word is derived from a combination of the Japanese words ami, meaning crocheted or knitted, and nuigurumi, meaning stuffed doll. Amigurumi are typically cute animals (such as bears, rabbits, cats, dogs, etc.), but can include inanimate objects endowed with anthropomorphic features. Amigurumi can be either knitted or crocheted. In recent years crocheted amigurumi are more popular and more commonly seen.